Fishing at Island Lake, Oneida County, Wisconsin

• Overview

  Oneida County in Wisconsin is where Island Lake sits. The surroundings are rolling bush. This is a pocket water of some 18 acres, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. On size it sits at the modest end of our Oneida County list. Rhinelander sits 12 miles from the bank. Green Bay sits 115 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Island Lake

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Species logged across Oneida County include brown trout, walleye, largemouth bass, northern pike and bluegill. County data is a starting point rather than a guarantee. Treat Island Lake as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 66°F; the cold one sits at 10°F. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. The lid usually goes in mid April, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. Ice clears near mid April and comes back about late November in a typical year. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. Island Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. Nothing is listed nearby for parking or launching a boat. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. For a change of water, Lumen Lake is 0.5 miles distant. Treat Island Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.